Gay student accuses lesbian professor of sexual harassment

A gay man, Nimrod Reitman, who is married to a male, has accused a former professor of his, Avital Ronell, of sexual harassment.

Ronell, a professed lesbian, was found guilty of sexually harassing Reitman, a former graduate student of hers.

Ronell, whom colleagues described as a world-renowned female professor of German and Comparative Literature at New York University was found guilty of sexual harassment in an 11-month Title IX investigation.

The investigation found Professor Ronell, responsible for sexual harassment, both physical and verbal, to the extent that her behaviour was “sufficiently pervasive to alter the terms and conditions of Mr. Reitman’s learning environment,” The New York Times.

In the Title IX final report, excerpts of which were obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Reitman said that she had sexually harassed him for three years, and shared dozens of emails in which she referred to him as “my most adored one,” “Sweet cuddly Baby,” “cock-er spaniel,” and “my astounding and beautiful Nimrod.”

Mr. Reitman, who is now 34 and is a visiting fellow at Harvard, says that Professor Ronell kissed and touched him repeatedly, slept in his bed with him, required him to lie in her bed, held his hand, texted, emailed and called him constantly, and refused to work with him if he did not reciprocate.

Soon after the university made its final, confidential determination known this spring, a group of scholars from around the world, including prominent feminists, sent a letter to N.Y.U. in defence of Professor Ronell. Judith Butler, the author of the book “Gender Trouble” and one of the most influential feminist scholars today, was first on the list.

“Although we have no access to the confidential dossier, we have all worked for many years in close proximity to Professor Ronell,” the professors wrote in a draft letter posted on a philosophy blog in June. “We have all seen her relationship with students, and some of us know the individual who has waged this malicious campaign against her.”

“We testify to the grace, the keen wit, and the intellectual commitment of Professor Ronell and ask that she be accorded the dignity rightly deserved by someone of her international standing and reputation,” the professors wrote. – Punch

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